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A review by sharonleavy
Girl A by Abigail Dean
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Alexandra "Lex" Gracie has just found out that her mother has passed away and left the family home to be divided between her and her siblings. Nothing unusual about that, you might say, except Lex's family home was dubbed a "House of Horrors" in the media; she is known only as "Girl A"; and her mother died in prison.
Lex is now faced with the task of contacting her remaining siblings to inform them of their mother's death and to ask if they will support her building a community centre on the site of the family home so that something good can come from it.
Each sibling has their own story, one flowing into the next. All very different, all affected in very different ways by what happened at 11 Moor Woods Road. But what happened?
Usually, I'm not a fan of "drip-feeding" when it comes to books like this, but it works well here. I really liked Lex a lot, I thought she was a brilliant character. While the book does jump from one time period to another and back again, this adds to the story rather than being disjointed. Unfortunately it also adds to the awful sense of dread that comes with some of the darker passages. We know something horrific must have happened, but we need to be patient while it unravels.
This one will stay with me for a while. Is the hype warranted? I don't know. Is it a really well written book? Absolutely. I also loved the ending, which isn't something I would have predicted given the content.
Lex is now faced with the task of contacting her remaining siblings to inform them of their mother's death and to ask if they will support her building a community centre on the site of the family home so that something good can come from it.
Each sibling has their own story, one flowing into the next. All very different, all affected in very different ways by what happened at 11 Moor Woods Road. But what happened?
Usually, I'm not a fan of "drip-feeding" when it comes to books like this, but it works well here. I really liked Lex a lot, I thought she was a brilliant character. While the book does jump from one time period to another and back again, this adds to the story rather than being disjointed. Unfortunately it also adds to the awful sense of dread that comes with some of the darker passages. We know something horrific must have happened, but we need to be patient while it unravels.
This one will stay with me for a while. Is the hype warranted? I don't know. Is it a really well written book? Absolutely. I also loved the ending, which isn't something I would have predicted given the content.